THEATER REVIEW : Two Acts, One Joke : ‘Marrieds’ honeymoon comedy has some funny moments, but not enough.

NORTH HOLLYWOOD —  The naughty wedding night comedy “For Marrieds Only” at the NoHo Studios in North Hollywood is a tacky, one-joke play about a 1930s bride who insists on following a sex manual to the minutest detail before venturing into bed with her frustrated groom.

Originally staged in Texas and brought here by the Texas Premiere Theatre, the production should appeal to people who drape topless hula dancer dolls from their rearview mirrors.

After two acts of the prim and proper bride earnestly instructing her by-now crazed husband in “how to accomplish sex in the absolutely correct manner,” you are definitely ready to swear off theater forever.

This is not to say that the tone of the play is sleazy or salacious. J. Tom Graham, who was inspired to write the play when he discovered just such a marriage manual heirloom in a family trunk, is never less than playful in mood and, on occasion, even funny. But not nearly often enough.

The bride’s anxious mother (Dace Broc) cautions her daughter (Jocelyn Benford) that she may scare off her husband (John Minton, who doubles as the director) and forever be a virgin if she doesn’t manage to get down to business.

The couple happens to be honeymooning in the parents’ guest bedroom--remember, this is the Depression--and the mother explains to the bride that sex is “for men and anniversaries and birthdays or when your husband comes home drunk.” She describes her own honeymoon sex as the “the worst 10 minutes of my life.”

All of this sounds more promising than it plays. The text satirizes, accurately enough, how dramatically sexual mores have changed in just one couple’s lifetime.

But despite the audience-friendly performances of Benford and Minton as the young harried marrieds, the play is like a shaggy dog story--far more lightweight and tattered than beguiling or engaging.

WHERE AND WHEN

What: “For Marrieds Only.”

Location: NoHo Studios, 5215 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood.

Hours: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 4 p.m. Sundays. Ends Sept. 18.

Price: $10 general, $9 seniors and students.

Call: (818) 798-2185.